Report: Power lines sparked massive Southern California fire

by CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press

Wednesday, March 13th 2019

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2017, file photo, a motorists on Highway 101 watches flames from the Thomas fire leap above the roadway north of Ventura, Calif. President Donald Trump has declared a major disaster in California over a wildfire that destroyed more than 1,000 buildings. The White House announced Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018, that the president has granted disaster status, which will help make federal funds available to supplement recovery efforts in the wake of the Thomas Fire that ravaged Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the largest fires in California history was sparked by Southern California Edison power lines that came into contact during high winds, investigators said Wednesday.

The resulting arc ignited dry brush on Dec. 4, 2017, starting the blaze in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties that resulted in two deaths and blackened more than 440 square miles (1,139 square kilometers), according to the investigation headed by the Ventura County Fire Department.

The arc "deposited hot, burning or molten material onto the ground, in a receptive fuel bed, causing the fire," according to a statement accompanying the investigative report

The fire destroyed more than1,000 structures before it was contained 40 days after it began. A firefighter and a civilian were killed.

A month after the blaze started, a downpour on the burn scar unleashed a massive debris flow that killed 21 people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in the seaside community of Montecito. Two people have not been found

Victims claimed in lawsuits that losses from the blaze and flooding were due to negligence by Edison.

The investigation was conducted by fire officials in both counties along with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

In Northern California, Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. filed for bankruptcy earlier this year in the face of billions of dollars in potential liability from huge wildfires in that part of the state in the past two years. A blaze in November killed 86 people and destroyed most of the town of Paradise.